There's Something in Breath

There's something in breath that teaches belonging.
There's something in the morning dew that teaches connections.
There's something in an animal's allegiance that teaches love.
There's something in the trees that teaches dignity.

Each moment has a fullness about it.
   It is I who separates its being....
       And in that separation comes beauty and despair, joy and emptiness, fear and knowing.

Life is extraordinarily simple.  Excruciatingly wonder-ful.

Must it Be A Hero's Story?

I wonder about the popular reference to Joseph Campbell's hero's journey in the quest for self development or spiritual deepening.  There is a danger of it creating "the drama of me".

I understand the encouragement of the hero story; but I find, as one predisposed to sacrifice and heroics, that I want to move away from that imaging.  I'd rather just work on strengthening my courage.  I do not need to fancy myself noble for doing it.  I simply need to strengthen my courage and deepen my trust in the unknown.

If we are all heroes or heroines, then what is the need for them?  And if some are more heroic than others, does it not invite comparisons, leading to shame and blame?

I get it.  The journey is hard, and the metaphor of the hero's journey is intuitively wise and breathtaking.  But why place that journey in a category above others?  Why not say: this is the work we must do if we choose our own authenticity?  Not as heroes, but as lovers of soul's truth.

Musings

Loneliness is the space between connections.
    It is where free will resides.

Solitude is the awareness of connections.
   It is where home resides.

Free Will is our dialogue with creation.

Home is our assurance beyond being.

Let choice arise from the emptiness and kindness abide in your being.

All is one in infinite ways.

Making Room for the Grace of God

In the presence of grasping, there is no room for the grace of God.

And so, we have times when we feel abandoned by the Cosmos -- our prayers seem to "fall on deaf ears".  Why, comes the wonder, do I feel so alone?  Why this emptiness, comes the plea, when I'm trying as hard as I can?  Why am I ignored -- rejected -- in my earnestness?

The Universe does not resonate with "my way", which is what grasping is about.
Whether we are grasping for fame or peace, for recompense or enlightenment, we are seeking something we will not find, which is the way we think things ought to be, or some special gesture that agrees we are in charge.

"Seek and ye shall find" is a phrase that can throw us off track.  The seeking is about openning, not directing; and the finding is about embracing, not securing. 

So what or how do we seek to come to a place of ease, away from the grasping and emptiness?

Take a moment to notice.  Notice the air you are breathing.  Remember our exchange with trees.  Notice the sun, even when you cannot see it.  The sun which brings life.  Let the sun feel like love.  Let it penetrate every cell.  And Trust. 

Trust is the antidote to grasping.  Trust ushers in the sense of belonging -- the knowledge of shared being.  Trust makes room for the grace of God.

Then go about your day.  Replace grasping with gratitude, and a glimpse of ease will come into notice.  You are held.  You belong.

Early Morning Walk

What is the moon but a a reminder that we are not alone?
That white globe in the grey blue morning sky
Gives us a touch of mystery and beyond...

How is it that we are given such things to admire?
The moon, the sky, the trees, the rising sun in parallel sky...

And in it all is our being
Taking a moment to recognize itself.

I Am Here

Did I choose to be here, or was I summoned?
Am I here to learn, or to respond?
And do I need to know?
I am here.  That is all. 

I am.  In the midst of laws of nature and trends of consciousness.
I am.  Here.
Its glory.  Its mystery.  Its dread-ful loneliness.  Its delight-ful connections.  Its not knowing what's next.

Here.
To savor. Not save.
To admire.  Not control.
To engage.  Not resist.

Here.
I am.

And the answer, I believe, is Yes.

And Then the Silence Enters You

And then the silence enters you.

It will not come unless you have made room.  And, depending on your attachment  (addiction?)  to busy-ness, it may take time to truly make room.  Perhaps, even, the phrase “make room” sends one off course, because silence doesn’t come from striving, it comes when efforts no longer have a goal.   It comes when you’ve forgotten to make room for all the things you have orchestrated.   There is a surrender, a stepping aside, that must happen before silence enters.

This is not merely a moment without noise.  While a reprieve for the heart and an expanse for the breathe, a moment of release is not the silence that enters you.  I speak of the presence where presence abides;  the silence where connections are known with the unity of all things.

This silence, with our full notice, brings us to stillness.  And stillness, my friend, is the place where the soul is replenished.  Stillness is the sister spirit of joy.